Remarks at a White House Ceremony Observing Crime Victims Week

April 18, 1983
The Attorney General. Mr. President, last year you appointed a commission on the victims of
crime, called the Task Force on the Victims of Crime, to study the problems of victims and to
make recommendations to vindicate the rights of victims. That task force completed its work,
made 68 recommendations, and those recommendations are now being studied by those of us at
the Justice Department and others who are concerned with this problem -- victims being the
forgotten people in the criminal justice system.

The Chairman of that commission -- that task force was Mrs. Lois Herrington, a distinguished
lawyer from California, who is the acting head of our Office of Justice Assistance, Research and
Statistics. And I would like to introduce her to you now. Lois.

Mrs. Herrington. Thank you very much, Mr. Attorney General. Mr. President, Mr. Vice
President, it's an honor and a pleasure to be here with you this afternoon.

Mr. President, when you established this task force, you led the Nation into a new era in the
treatment of victims of crime. Never before has any President recognized the plight of those
forgotten by the criminal justice system. It is my privilege to introduce to you five citizens who
have given invaluable assistance to your task force. They represent hundreds of others who came
forward, some at great personal sacrifice, to inform us all of the depth of this problem.

Mrs. Evelyn Blackwell is a widow from Washington, D.C. She has given us a special sense of the
problems crime imposes on senior citizens, and she is a model for how those courageous citizens
can fight back.

Since 1975 her home has been broken into five times and her limited income has prevented her
from replacing most of those things taken from her. Gradually, she came to fear that no place,
including her home, was safe. But because of her spirit and a refusal to give up, Mrs. Blackwell
has been working to combat crime in her neighborhood, especially crimes against the elderly. In
addition, she and a staff of 40 volunteers accompany elderly victims to court to ease the burden of
this process on them.

Her creative and productive response to her own misfortunes serves as an inspiration to all who
are working to improve the lot of victims in this country.

Mr. President, may I present Mrs. Evelyn Blackwell.

Mr. Elvus Regalia is a California pharmacist who was driven out of business by crime. Mr.
Regalia owned and operated his own pharmacy for some 24 years, during which time he was
burglarized six times and robbed on three separate occasions.

During one robbery, he and two others were held hostage at gunpoint. Mr. Regalia always
cooperated with authorities, even though numerous court appearances required that he repeatedly
close his business. Eventually, the financial drain on his business, coupled with increasing fear,
forced Mr. Regalia to sell the business he and his family had worked to build.

He now works as a pharmacist in San Quentin Prison. And he testified that although he rubs
elbows with murderers and convicts now, he feels safer than the neighborhood pharmacist who
serves the public.

Mr. President, I would like you to meet Mr. Elvus Regalia.

Mrs. Geraldine Strong is a victim of crime whose injuries were magnified by the callous way she
was treated in the legal system. Mrs. Strong was at work one morning at a Maryland public
library when an assailant with a long criminal history kidnaped her at gunpoint, held her captive
for 3 hours while he raped, robbed, and repeatedly threatened to kill her if she ever testified
against him.

Though Mrs. Strong's attacker was arrested at the scene of the crime, it took the system a year to
bring him to trial. Mrs. Strong told your task force that, ``my disillusionment with the judicial
system is many times more painful than the attacks on me.''

But she has not succumbed to her disillusionment. She has volunteered to help train law
enforcement professionals to improve their sensitivity and service to victims of crime.

Mr. President, I would like you to meet Mrs. Geraldine Strong.

All too often the pain and suffering that victims of crime experience continues long after the
passage of the criminal event itself. Last year, three men entered the St. Louis home of Harold
and Lily Tuthill and savagely beat them both.

In addition to taking money, these criminals stole the mementos of their lifetime together.
Efficient police work led to the quick apprehension of the criminals. But the Tuthills have spent
long periods in hospitals recovering from their physical and psychological injuries. The continuing
fear that resulted from the attack forced them to move from their home of 40 years. Their lives
will never truly be the same.

Mr. President, I would like you to meet Mr. Harold Tuthill.

Mrs. Betty Jane Spencer is a brave and dedicated woman. In February 1977, four men with
shotguns entered the Spencer home in rural Indiana, robbed the family, murdered Mrs. Spencer's
four sons, and shot her three times.

When apprehended, the killers admitted they had picked a house at random to kill everyone in it
``for the fun of it.'' The ringleader of the group was on parole, and he and another killer were also
free on bail, awaiting trial for other crimes.

Mrs. Spencer went to work to improve the system of justice in her State. As a result of her efforts
and of citizens like her, more than 20 laws have been changed to better protect and assist victims
of crime in Indiana. She has been a true champion of the cause of crime victims, and I'm very
proud to introduce her to you.

Mr. President, I would like you to meet Betty Jane Spencer.

The President. Attorney General Smith, Mrs. Herrington, and ladies and gentlemen:

Standing here in the Rose Garden listening to these dreadful stories of senseless brutality seems
almost unreal. But for far too many of our citizens, the threat of violent crime is, as we've heard,
all too real.

I would like to thank all of you -- Mrs. Blackwell, Mrs. Strong, Mrs. Spencer, Mr. Regalia, and
Mr. Tuthill -- as well as all the citizens who have come forward to help us come to grips with this
very serious problem. You've acted in the highest tradition of our country. By your courage and
selflessness, you've done your nation a great service.

I think the time has come when we, as a free people, should face up to some hard decisions about
crime. The crime epidemic threat has spread throughout our country, and it's no uncontrollable
disease, much less an irreversible tide. Nor is it some inevitable sociological phenomenon,
traceable to urbanization or modern society. It is, instead, and in large measure, a cumulative
result of too much emphasis on the protection of the rights of the accused and too little concern
for our government's responsibility to protect the lives, homes, and rights of our law-abiding
citizens.

We should be proud that our criminal justice system protects the constitutional rights of the
accused. But over the past few years, that system has allowed the safeguards protecting the rights
of the innocent to be torn away. This has so complicated the system, clogged our courts, and
reduced the chances of conviction -- as well as the level of punishment once a criminal is
convicted -- that the criminal element now calculates that crime really does pay.

The suffering of these victims we've met today and the millions of others, as well, is testimony to
the inequity and the inadequacy of today's system. Our Task Force on Victims of Crime called the
neglect and mistreatment of crime victims a national disgrace. I heartily agree. What we have to
do now is move forward to correct this disgrace and, at the same time, to clear away the
roadblocks that prevent the authorities from doing their job. But we need your help. Prompt
enactment of our anticrime package, particularly the bail reform and sentencing provisions, is
needed to protect victims from criminals. The voice of the people must be heard in the
Congress.

It will take time and hard work to undo the distortions of our criminal justice system that brought
on this wave of crime. But under Attorney General Smith and his leadership, we're moving on
these tough questions.

Finally, while Washington is a vital part of tackling the problem, it will also take the coordinated
efforts of people in State and local government and in every walk of life to get this situation under
control. Without action at the State and local level, our Federal efforts can achieve little.

Ultimately, if we're to succeed, each of us, as citizens, must do his or her part not only through
contacting elected officials, though that always helps, but also by watching out for our friends,
our families, and our communities. Crime prevention is no longer just a job for the police. Every
level of government and Americans everywhere must take an active part. Many neighborhoods
have a crime watch program. I would hope that more and more of our citizens take the time and
effort to get involved.

So, thank you all for what you're doing. And, together, I'm confident that we can begin to make
America safe again. Thank you.

Mrs. Herrington. Mr. President, I know that I speak on behalf of these courageous Americans and
citizens around this nation that thank you for your dedication and your concern.

Note: The ceremony began at 1:45 p.m. in the Rose Garden at the White House. Lois H.
Herrington was Chairman of the President's Task Force on Victims of Crime, which submitted its
final report to the President on January 27.